Composite fibrous product



H. F. WEISS.

COMPOSITE FIBROUS PRODUCT.

APPLICATION FILED lAPR. 25. 1919.

Patented Aug. 9, @EL

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Howaan FREDERICK WEISS, or MADISON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOB. .To c. r.Bunn-ESS mnoaaroarns, ,or MADISON, WISCONSIN, A. CORPORATION-OFWISCONSIN. Y

COMPOSITE FBBJOUS ERODUCT.

Application med April 25, 1919. Serial No. 292,677.

To allfwho'mz't may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD F. Weiss, residing at Madison, in the countycf Dane, State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulimprovements in Composite Fibrous Products; and l do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled inthe art to whiclirit appertains tomake and use the same.

vThis invention relates to composite librous products, and has forritsobjects the provision of improved methods for making the same, as wellas the provision of new articles of manufacture resulting from thepractice of the method of the invention. rlhe presentl invention moreparticularly relates to composition roofing material, such, for example,as composition shingles and the so-called ,asphalt shingles. In thisconnection, the invention contemplates the provision, as a new articleof manufacture, of a new and improved composition roofing material, andmore particularly a new' and improved composition shingle, as well as anew method of making the same.

The lmethod in general practice at the present time of producing roofing-felts and so-called asphalt shingles -consists in first 'heating ragsinto a pulp, and then forming the pulp i-nto a felt in a paper machine.

The felt thus formed is then dipped into a tank containing a hotsaturating material, usually a coal tar, or asphalt, product. rl`heexcess of the saturating material is removed by passing the saturatedfelt through squeeze rolls. In certain types of roofing, saturated feltis coated with a weather-rep sisting coating Of either' coal tar pitch,or

asphaltum, and on this is sprinkled a coating of powdered or crushedmineral matter. ln the manufacture of shingles,this sheet of saturatedand coated felt is passed through a cutting machine which cuts theshingles to any desired form or shape.-

There are several objects to this present method of manufacturingroofing material and shingles. Unlessga very -good grade of rags is usedand considerable care taken in beating them to form'A them into a felt,the

felt will break when passing through the sat' uratingv machine, thuscausing considerable delay and trouble. On the other hand,- goodSpecicaticn of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug.y a, rear.

grades of rags are expensive and cannot be economically used for thispurpose. Again, in order to saturate the felt, it is necessary to use asaturant of low melting point. rllhis, in turn, tends to softentheweathering layer deposited on the saturated felt, causing the roofsurface to creep, especially when the pitch of the roof is sharp.Shingles made in the manner described .are ofsubstantially the samethickness throughout, thus giving a rather at and unartistic appearanceto the roof. Furthermore, shingles` made in this manner have a tendencyto curl and lift up in strong winds, thus causing the roof to leak, andthis diiculty is especially true when the pitch o f the roof is small.

The present invention contemplates a new method of manufacturecomposition roofing material and shingles', .in which the procelamixture of suitable fibrous material and a binding agent, preferablycoal tar pitch or asphalt, while in a substantially dry and solidcondition, is formed into the desired shape by compression. Thecompressed mixture `is then preferably warmed, and, while warm', isimpregnated with a suitable saturant, such as coal tar pitch, orasphalt. The exposed surface of the thus saturated and compressedmaterial is then preferably coated with a film of pitch of highermelting point .and then with crushed mineral material, and the productmay then be cut into thedesired shape and size.

In carrying out the invention, the fibrous material and binding agent,mixed in the proper proportion, and both being in a dry and solidcondition, are introduced into a shredding machine. The shredderseparates the liber in the fibrousmaterial andl pulverizes the binder,and at the same time produces an intimate mixture of both fiber Afinearticles of the substance, and give what When a brittle, Anon-fibrous,.f

is ca led a powder. Under the same impact a fibrous material tears apartrather than pulverizes because of its fibrous structure.

\ Y airendy mixed, or they can ely by means of two conveyer shreddingengine so disintee aste produce a thorough mixbinder. operation, themixture ot and binder is screened, in spar the particles which are cecoarse a condition tor the sub- 'Ihe coarse particles 1- .turned to theshredder. The 'ma- Through the screen is ot .and is conveyed to astorage ci it passes through a vibratis depositedcn a moving belt bleWein-viver. When the mixner and pulverized binder den iii del osited to'form a layer of ed thickness, it is compressed, r hetween squeezerolls, at room When making sheet' rooting deposited layer et mixed bermay he oil substantially uniform ss, whereas when making shingles, to socontrol the deposition of the inmune to maire the compressed article orone-end than at the other. y compresses the ber and binder c a sheet ormet. This is then warmed 30@ llpor over, and' while warm, a film oi2deposited upon'the upper surface oit niet. This .tilm is quicklynhsorhed by the mat, which thus has all of its coated by the saturantand all of are iilled. The mat-is then cooled slightly, sitter which itis coated with a second hlm, this heing of higher melting the dormer andserving as a weathering layer. @n this is siited some or crushed mineralmatter to give .-ian sartene. After sucient cooling has ocnrred, themat, saturated and.

coated in the manner described, is ted into a cnt-ting which ents itinto pieces, fier example shingles, ot the desired size 1 ci theaccompanying draw- Y is dingrammatically illustrated @iteration or anapparatus for carrying om method et the present invention; 2 is o, viewot a similar apparatus pmffhc'nharly al `fior the manufacture ai? ofitnperedsectionlligf is a elevation et a sgle made in accondense with theinvention; and Figs. t

t3 @grticnlly illustrate a modie155 apparatus..

".dhe a Y diairrammatically- .illusia rigs; inane has a een (rait-i9) eta width a ,approximately equal to the length or a say, fior` example,about 13 lit ismore economical to provide the apparatus a heit severalshingle This can he done by mul-- After the shred- This isernia A'upryng the maar of uw. un a Severn Shingle lengths, and longitudinallycutting or slitting the finished product, as will be morey fully.explained. in connection with Fig. t

'oi the drawings. v y l Referring to lFig. 1 ofthe drawings, the

brous material and binding agent, each-'in a substantially 'dry andsolid condition, are fed into the hopper 5 of the shredder 6. From theshredder the mixed materials tall onto the screen 7, from whence thecoarse particles are returned by a conveyer or elevator 8 to the ho per5, while the mixture of nely divided blnder and shredded fiber is blownthrough a conduit 9 by a fan 10 into a storage bin 11. From thestoragebin the suitably proportioned mixture ot fiber and binder is fed onto avibrating screen 12, from whence it is deposited onto a belt or conveyer13. When a la er ot mixed fiber and binder of sucient epth has beenobtained, it is passed through the compression rolls 14 which squeeze itinto a compact mass of mat-like form. The compact mass4 A then .passesonto a conveyor 15 `and thence to a heatin chamber 16 wherein atemperature of a out 200 l". Iis maintained, as, i

for example, by meansof heatingvpipes 17. While still warm, andYpreferably While lstill heated to a temperature ot 200 1F. or

over, a hlm of saturant is depositsdnpon the upper surface of thecompact ina'ss by means of a spray pipe or coating roll 18 or anyequivalent apglying means. By use ot the term spraying mean to includeall such means. As the satur` nt l may use coal tar pitch, asphalt, orthe like. rllhe saturant may, ofcourse, be hot, if desired, in order toincrease its fluidity and its penetrating power. 'lhe thus saturated matis cooled sli htly While being carried along by asuit- 4 ab e belt orconveyer 19.- A coating agent of substantially the same generalvcharacter as` the saturant, but preferably of a higher melting point,is then sprayed on the mat by means ot a pipe 20 or spread by means of acoating' roll. A surface layer ot powdered or crushed mineral matter isthen ldeposited on the 'mat by means of a vibrating screen 21 or ,othersuitable device, whereupon the product is fed to an appropriate cuttingmachine.

l l may use fibers oft any suitable kind, preferably having. absorptiveproperties, and ll have secured good results from fbersot sulhte,sulfate and ground Wood pulps, and pa- Y pers and also from bark andmoss. However it will,` of course, be understood that the invention isnot restricted to thespeciic kinds of fibers just mentioned, sincenumerous other brous'materials may be used. rlhe function oii the fibersis to act as a reinforcevIn making shingles by the method of theinvention, I prefer to use much less binder in the thin 'end of theshingle than in the thick end up tothe time the mixture of fiber andbinding agent is compressed. I have found that 20% binder to 80% fiberby weight is satisfactory for the thin end of.

the shingle, whereas for the thick end this proportion can be reversed.This treatment produces a shingle having a flexible thin end and a rigidbutt endf Furthermore, in coatproduced by using screens of differentdebration.

grees of fineness -and different rates of vi- Thus, in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, I have represented three screens 12, 12b ard 12c fordepositing the mixed fibrous material and binder on the belt conveyer13. The mesh of the screen 12 is coarser than that of the screen 12a,while the screen 12b is of an intermediate mesh. Moreover, the screen12`is arranged to be vibrated more rapidly than the screen 12", the`latter is arranged to be vibrated more rapidly than the screen1'2a. Inthis manner a deposit of unequal thickness is formed on theconveyer 13.

By the arran ement shown in Fig. 2,'the thickness of t e deposit willincrease from the top to the bottom of theconveyer 13. It will, ofcourse, be understood that lit is not necessary-to use both screens ofdifferent degrees of fineness and ldifferent rates of vibration, sinceeither expedient alone may Abe sufhcient to produce the desirednonuniformity in the thickness of the deposit on the conveyer 13. Itwill furthermore be understood that the three separate screens 12a, 12band 12 may becombined in a single screen in which the mesh varies fromone side tothe other. The space between the coperating surfaces of thecompression rolls 14 is, of course, suitably adjusted to con-v form tothe desired tapered section of the Y shingle. The screen 21 fordepositing the crushed mineral matterA on the saturated` product isarranged to extend across about two-thirds of the width of the conveyer19, so as to coat only about two-thirds the'` length of the shinglesfrom the butt end, as illustrated in Fig. 2. i

Instead of using three separate screensfor giving a variation inthickness I have found that one screen can be used to produce thetapered shingle if the screen is not stretched horizontal and arallel tothe surface of the belt on whlch the fibers and binder are deposited.Greatest deposition `of fiber and binder occurs when the surface of thescreen is horizontal and least when it is vertical. By properly varyingthe pitch of the screen the desired variation inthick- Iness of depositcan be secured. Thus, in

Fig. 4 of the drawings, I have shown a screen 12 composed of a pluralityof cylindrical vsections .of such configuration and design as to produceori the belt 13 a deposit of pro ressively varying depth, as illus`trated y reference numeral 30. The finished product will havesubstantially the same sectional configuration as the deposit] merelyillustrative. Thus, in Fig.v 5 ofthe drawings, an uneven deposit of thecharacter indicated at the right end of the fi ure by reference numeral30 is produce on the belt 13 by a plurality of screens 12 ofprogressively varying lengths. screens may be mechanically independentor may of course be combinedin one unitary structure, and, in eithercase, are vibrated in an suitable manner.

A s ingle of tapered section embodying the invention is illustrated inFig. 3. This shingle is composed of 'a compact body 30 of shreddedfibers and pulverized .binding agent impregnated with a suitable hdrocarbon saturant, such as coal tar pito asphalt, or the like. Theexposed surface of the shingle has a coating 31 of crushed fibrousmaterial extending about two-thirds of its length from the butt end. Thethinner end of the shingle contains 25% or less of a binder ofrelativelyhigh melting point, while the .thick end contains 50% or more of thebinder.

Other usefull and advantageous applications of these generic features ofthe lmproved method of the resent invention will occur to those skilled1n the art. In the appended claims, I, therefore, aim to cover thisbroad aspect of the invention as well as the particular application oftheinvention to the These Ser. No. 279,288, filed February 26, 1919.

e solid condition, fibrous material with a deposting a layer of mineral.matter on said weather resistant layer.

16. In a method of making composition shingles containing fibrousmaterial, which comprises mixing in a substantially dryl'ard 1n ingagent, depositing a layer of the mixture on a movable conveyer,compacting the deposited layer of said mixture, heating the compactproduct, spraying said product withv a hydrocarbon lsaturant, and'cutting the sheet thus formed into the desired sha es.

1 A method of manufacturing composition rooing material, which comprisesmixing, in a substantially dly and solid condi,- tion, fibrous materialan a-binding agent,

-depositing said mixture on a support to form a depositof varying depth,and compacting and heating the deposit to form an article of taperedsection. l

18. A method of manufacturing. composition shingles which comprisesmixing, in a substantially dry and solid condition, ibrous material andsaid mixture on a support 1n such a manner as to form a deposit ofvarying depth, com

pacting and heating the'deposit to form an article of tapered Ationvroofing -while thatv of the other a binding agent, depositing articlethus formed into the desired shapes. A19. A method of manufacturingcomposimaterial which comprises making a plurality of diierentlyproportioned mixturesof Viibrous material and a binding agent,depositing said mixture on asupport in such a. manner that theproportion ofone ingredientprogressively increases'irom one side to theother of the deposit, while that of the other ingredient correspondinglydecreases, and 4compacting and heating the deosit; t p 20. A method of'manufacturing composition roofing material which comprises making aplurality of dierently proportioned. mixtures of fibrous material and abinding agent, depositing' said mixtures o n asupport in such a mannersection, and cutting the. I

ad'A A' that the proportion of one ingredient progressivelydncreasesfrom vone side to the other ofthe deposit,

spondingly decreases, the de osit'l being of varying thickness, andcompa ing the deposit to form anl article of tapered section. v

In testimon HOWA D whereof I'faix my si FREDERICK rss. e

ingredient corre'v ture.Y i

tinganaheat- 1

